March 2023

In John’s Gospel chapter 14, Jesus makes a profound statement which is so relevant today to the Church. As the prophetic time clock of God counts down, we can see that the coming of the Lord is so near. As a matter of fact, we are closer now than ever in the history of the world. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s House are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Jesus told His disciples that He would come again to receive them to Himself, so they would be where He was also. Since those disciples have already gone on to be with the Lord, this Promise remains for the Church referring to the “Catching Away,” or the “Rapture” of the Church.

The world is setting the stage for the man of sin, the “Antichrist” to come on the scene, but it’s important for the Church to understand the we are the only thing that is holding him back from being revealed. Once the Church is taken out, Paul told us that he would be revealed to the world. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the Day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there comes a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sits in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholds (restrains) that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work, only he (the Church) who now (restrains) will restrain, until he (the Church) is taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.”

Once the Church is taken, there will be nothing left to restrain, or hold back the Antichrist from being revealed and coming on the scene. At that point the “Seven Years of Tribulation” will begin. One of the things the world needs to understand is that those last seven years are reserved only for the Nation of Israel, the Church Age and the Time of Grace is over, because the Church is gone.

This is why it’s so important in the little time we have left to do what Paul said to Timothy in Second Timothy 4:5, and that was “to do work of an evangelist.” The work of an evangelist is to witness, preach, and tell people that Jesus is coming, and time is running out, and “today is the day of salvation.”

The Bible tells us that no man knows the day or the hour of Jesus’ return, but we can know the signs that are right in front of us, and the signs of His soon coming return are all around us. As you read this letter, my prayer is that it will penetrate your heart and you will see the need to witness and tell others about Jesus and His saving love and grace. 

In Second Peter 3:9, He tells us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Every person in the Body of Christ needs to take heed to Paul and Peter’s admonition to lead people to Christ. Time is running out, so we need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way, it could be the last chance we have to win someone into the family of God.

Very soon, we will see what Paul was talking about in First Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, then I pray you will do so right now this very moment. In closing, I want to encourage you to spend time each and every day, praying in the Holy Spirit, stay in faith, stay in the Word, keep speaking the right things and making the right confessions of faith, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and remember “God loves you; we love you and JESUS IS LORD!”

In the Service of Our King,

Darrell G. Harrelson